Keige Kaku was one of the few “NO NO” boys during WWII when the Japanese American were incarcerated in what is now called the Relocation Centers.
Keige Kaku was born on January 6, 1915 in Orosi, California. At the age of 6, both of his parents contracted tuberculosis so his parents with an older sister went back to Japan. Keige was left in the United States, and was raised by Setsuzo and Tora Kaku, distant family members who came from the same region of Japan as his parents.
In beginning of 1941, Keige who was 26 years of age, joined the U.S. Army and served in the Army Corp of Engineers. He was stationed in Georgia when Pearl Harbor was attacked. As his unit was being deployed to Europe to help rebuild Europe, he was discharged as “Enlisted Reserve”. The Army later released Keige on December 1942, after he had served for less than a year due to his Japanese ancestry.
When Keige returned home in the Imperial Valley where his family was farming, Keige wore his military uniform--his only clothes that he had, and he found that no one would give him a ride to his farm, which was many miles away from the bus stop. When he arrived home, he learned that his father had been taken away by the FBI, leaving his mother and 4 children on the farm.
Just before the evacuation, the family was given a few weeks to get the family things in order before reporting to the local bus stop. They could take only what they were able to carry. Keige's brothers and sisters were much smaller, so he had the burden of carrying as much as he could to help his family. Before leaving home, Keige asked one neighbor to watch the ranch and to pick the crop in a few weeks. The neighbor agreed and was instructed to send the money to Keige. [As it turned out, Keige never received the harvest money or any of the family belongings which was left behind. This problem seemed to have a major affect on him during his time spent he was interned in the Camps.]
Keige's family was sent to the Poston, Arizona internment camp I, where he met Sumiko, his future wife. They were married in December of 1942. A daughter, Joyce was born in Poston.
The infamous 'loyalty' questions were asked to internees age 17 or older. Keige refused to answer the questions because he told the U.S. Military representatives that is had already proven his loyalty to the U.S. by having previously enlisted in the Military. He became a "No No" boy and was then sent to Tule Lake segregation camp with his wife and daughter.
The infamous 'loyalty' questions were asked to internees age 17 or older. Keige refused to answer the questions because he told the U.S. Military representatives that is had already proven his loyalty to the U.S. by having previously enlisted in the Military. He became a "No No" boy and was then sent to Tule Lake segregation camp with his wife and daughter.
In Tule Lake, a son was born, named "Stanley". Keige was very bitter and felt betrayed by the U.S. government. He had enlisted in the Army and the government was asking him about his loyalty to the US. Keige was one of the very few vocal group of young men in the camp. Later, Keige Kaku was imprisoned at the Department of Justice internment camp, in Bismark, North Dakota, with other German and Italian prisoners of war.
At the end of world War II, Keige Kaku was reunited with his family in Portland, Oregon. The family was stripped of their U.S. citizenship (repatriated) and deported to Japan.
The Kaku family lived in Japan for 10 years and a third son was born, named "Henry". Since Keige and Sumiko were bi-lingual, they were employed by the U.S. occupation forces, both as translators and later they helped to rebuild Japan’s National Rail system.
Sometime in late 1955, Keige hired a well-known civil rights attorney, Wayne M. Collins who was from San Francisco. Mr. Collins took their case to the U.S. Superior Court. He was able to successfully reverse the decision of having taken their U.S. citizenship away. On March 21, 1956 the U.S. Superior Court ruled that the U.S. had no legal basis to take away the U.S. citizenship of the Kaku family. The family went to the U.S. consulate and were given their passport to go back to the United States.
In 1956, the Kaku family moved back to California and settled in Palo Alto where Keige worked independently as a gardener for about 25 years. His son, Stanley, joined him, and they formed Kaku & Son Landscaping which continued for the next 20 years.
Keige was a longtime member of the Mid-Peninsula Gardener’s Association and continued to garden until he was 87 years old. Keige Kaku passed away on 11/24/2009.
Source: Henry Kasu, Keige's son.
Source: Henry Kasu, Keige's son.
